Appreciate the little things...

Today was a fabulous reminder of why I do what I do each and every day. These little reminders are very nice because some days I am not sure why I do what I do every day. No two days are alike and its always an adventure.
In my preschool room, we are now up to 30 children in our room. When I started, I believe we were at around 17. Its been a tough adjustment for many of our students. And truthfully, for some of them, not a good adjustment. A smaller setting would be MUCH more beneficial for some of them. But because I am who I am, I do everything I can to make sure each student is getting as much as they can out of each and every day. Some days are much tougher than others and I leave some times wondering if I am really doing anything for any of these children and if I am making an impact in their lives. After all, isn't that the ultimate goal? The pay check is just a much appreciated bonus every two weeks ;-)
This morning when I got to work, my question was answered. The answer is yes. And I have always said, even if it is just one child I am reaching out to, I did my job.
I walked into my classroom this morning greeted by all my little rugrats yelling "Ms. Sarah (which sounds more like Sawah) is here!!" along with all of them hanging on me and giving me hugs. It truthfully is a great way to start the day! Then I had one of my little girls saying, "I wanna open my present!" I was confused until I saw three presents on the counter, one for each of the teachers in the room. She thought she as able to open the presents, even though they were from her! But hey, she is only three, I'll give her some credit ;-)
 So I opened my gift bag to find a reusable cup. Ya know? The kind with the straw and double walls so it doesn't sweat? It was filled with Crystal Light packets and a lip gloss from Victoria's Secret (which is always a nice treat!!) Then after looking again in the bag, I found their families Christmas card. Adorable. It really is the only way to describe the two siblings. They are on my top five fav kids list!! hehe But ssshhh!!! Don't tell the rest of them ;-)
And there was then one last thing; a bag of M&M's with a note tied to it. I read what it said and I almost started crying!! Well, take a look for yourself!!

This is by far the best gift I could ask for from a student. This will be one of the things that stays with me, wherever I am teaching. It is such a simple gesture, but it means the world to me, and all of us teachers we got one. So this question that I've been wrestling around with for a while was clearly answered for me this morning. My ultimate goal is to touch every child's life that I meet, but I know that might asking just a bit much! So knowing that this little girl was so excited to give each of us our gift was gift enough!! It looks like I just gotta keep doing whatever it is I am doing!! :-D

xoxo

wOOp wOOp!!!

So for any of you that are actually reading this, you know how much I love to play volleyball. Well the past two months or so, I have been playing on a women's league through community education with a good friend of mine, Nickie Everroad!! The first night we played, I realized how much I truly missed playing!! Well, it all came to an end tonight :-(
BUT!! No need for the sad face!! We played really well (once we got our heads together!) and took 2nd place out of ten teams!! We ended up losing to a really good team that has been playing together for what seems like a while. We definitely gave them a run for their money too!
The reason I am bringing this up is because driving home, I realized I haven't had this much fun in a while! Well, this type of fun. I am able to pull my competitive side out for a bit and really enjoy something I am passionate about! I don't know how to explain it, but I am so grateful Nickie asked me to play with her and her mom's team!! It feels so great to be able to do something for myself one night a week. Every night of the week it seems I am doing work, outside of work of course, or doing something for someone else. Monday nights are my nights and I have been very happy to have this opportunity!! We actually have another league starting up the first week of January and I am already anxious for it!!!
Nickie and I have played together for years and it is always so much with her! She got me into softball again for the first time in years this summer and again, so much fun!! Obviously I love volleyball just a TINY bit more ;-) hehe but either way I am doing something that I love and I am keeping myself busy!!

So here was us on our last night of the season!!---------->
(Don't mind the red, sweaty faces!)

Nickie and I are also coaching a volleyball team through Elk River JO's. We are co-coaching a 14's team and so far its been a bit of a struggle to get things going smoothly, but I am already looking forward to the season starting! We are getting the chance to take something we both enjoy doing and pass that along to younger girls in hopes of them some day doing the same thing! So hopefully we can put our skills to the test and teach them everything we know!!

Stay tuned for updates on how the team is doing!!

xoxo